New Librarians Discussion Group Meet-n'-Greet: "Demystifying the Hiring Process"

Sebastian Derry has been the Director of the Elizabeth Seton Library at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York since July 2010. Previously, he was Head of Media Services at Temple University in Philadelphia, and Fine Arts Librarian/Media Services Coordinator at the University of Montana in Missoula, ...

Sebastian Derry has been the Director of the Elizabeth Seton Library at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York since July 2010. Previously, he was Head of Media Services at Temple University in Philadelphia, and Fine Arts Librarian/Media Services Coordinator at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. He earned his MLIS from Dalhousi University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Beth Evans is an associate professor/electronic services librarian at the Brooklyn College Library. She holds an MLS from Queens College of the City University of New York and an AM in English literature from Brown University. She has published and presented widely during the 18 years of her career as a librarian and has served on the appointments committee of her library for several terms. She frequently mentors new professionals as the coordinator of the internship program at the Brooklyn College Library, through ACRL/NY and as part of the ACRL nation Spectrum Scholars program.

Susanne Markgren is the Digital Services Librarian at Purchase College, SUNY, an instructor at Manhattanville College, a co-author of "Career Q&A with the Library Career People" (http://www.lisjobs.com/CareerQA_blog/), and the mentoring program coordinator for ACRL/NY. She has worked in academic libraries for the past fifteen years, and has also worked in public and special libraries and as a career consultant. She received her MLIS from the University of Texas at Austin.

Jean O'Neill Uhl is an Associate Professor and Reference Librarian at Long Island University--C.W. Post Campus, working primarily with students studying education, student teachers, school media specialists and classroom teachers developing skills in curriculum development and classroom technology. Jean is published in several professional journals on topics including library services to the homeschooled and library support for teacher education. She also teaches graduate classes for the Palmer School of Library and Information Science.

What role does the traditional hiring committee play in the academic library hiring process? Who serves? How do they prepare? What happens during the day-long interview process? And what happens after the candidate leaves--how are decisions made? Gain insight from four veterans of the hiring process, whose experience derives from a variety of academic library contexts--institutions public & private; small & large. We'd also like to hear from you: what are your experiences as a member of a hiring committee, as a new hire, or as a job candidate?

The New Librarians Discussion Group (NLDG) of ACRL/NY is a forum in which new librarians (and future librarians) come together with questions and concerns about the profession and share experiences and ideas with one another. The Meet-n'-Greet is traditionally when ACRL/NY members and other individuals from the academic library community come together to learn and to discuss what programs/topics they would like to see the NLDG address for the coming year. Light refreshments will be served.

Who should attend: Early-career librarians, library school students, mid-career librarians interested in academic library hiring practices, individuals interested in learning more about the ACRL/NY New Librarians Discussion Group and the ACRL/NY Mentoring Program.

By the end of this program, participants will:

1. Gain general insight regarding human resources practices within academic libraries, including the interview process and how hiring decisions are made.

2. Gain an understanding of academic library hiring committees, about how their functioning varies within different institutional contexts, and about the hiring committee experiences of specific individuals from within those institutions.

3. Have an opportunity to learn from participants who have either served on committees, interacted with committee members as job candidates, and/or successfully gained employment through the academic library search process.

Organizer ACRL/NY New Librarians Discussion Group

This event is organized by the ACRL/NY New Librarians Discussion Group and co-sponsored by METRO and the ACRL/NY Mentoring Program.